In recent years, a movement has gained traction to replace incandescent light bulbs with lighting fixtures that employ more efficient lighting technologies as well as to replace relatively efficient fluorescent lighting fixtures with lighting technologies that produce a more pleasing, natural light. One such technology that shows tremendous promise employs light emitting diodes (LEDs). Compared with incandescent bulbs, LED-based lighting fixtures are much more efficient at converting electrical energy into light, are longer lasting, and are also capable of producing light that is very natural. Compared with fluorescent lighting, LED-based fixtures are not only more efficient, but are also capable of producing light that is much more natural and more capable of accurately rendering colors. As a result, lighting fixtures that employ LED technologies are replacing incandescent and fluorescent bulbs in residential, commercial, and industrial applications.
Unlike incandescent bulbs that operate by subjecting a filament to a desired current, LED-based lighting fixtures require electronics to drive one or more LEDs. The electronics generally include a power supply and special control circuitry to provide uniquely configured drive signals that are required to drive the one or more LEDs in a desired fashion. The presence of the control circuitry adds a potentially significant level of intelligence to the lighting fixtures that can be leveraged to employ various types of lighting control. Such lighting control may be based on various environmental conditions, such as ambient light and occupancy.
Unfortunately, the added complexity of the electronics in an LED-based lighting fixture tends to increase the cost of the LED-based lighting fixtures as well as the failure rate. While the LEDs have proven to be extremely reliable, the electronics tend to be the limiting reliability factor of the LED-based lighting fixtures. Repairing or replacing LED-based lighting fixtures is generally tedious and expensive. As such, there is not only a need to increase the reliability of LED-based lighting fixtures, but there is also a need for a design that makes the repair of failed LED-based lighting fixtures much easier and economical.